THERE was a sumptuously stimulating spark to the ever-growing chorus for national consensus on the anticipated economic take-off in the country last week when First Lady Amai Dr Grace Mugabe and Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa proffered prescriptions to maximum use of land as one of the means to boost efforts to get the economy fully working again.
In South Africa, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema took melodies from Zimbabwe’s economic empowerment agenda hymn book, telling students that it was nothing, but propaganda that South Africa would be ‘like’ neighbouring Zimbabwe if blacks repossessed land.
Zimbabwe was bashed with illegal economic sanctions for embarking on a Land Reform Programme, a strategy that has been used to maximum effect by the West and their hysterical media to scare South Africans from taking over their land.
First to assume the country’s economic take-off offensive mantle from President Robert Mugabe’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), was VP Mnangagwa who lamented the underutilisation of irrigation facilities in the country, with only 153 000 hectares of land under functional irrigation out of a total of 220 000 hectares of installed irrigation.
In his SONA on Tuesday last week, President Mugabe emphasised the need to increase agricultural production and output through massive investments in irrigation.
On Wednesday, at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS), VP Mnangagwa implored different stakeholders to invest in finding mechanisms necessary to deal with effects of climate change as the country continued to suffer from recurring droughts.
He said strategic recommendations on the appropriate research, technology and support services were needed to increase agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe.
“We must continually generate and share new knowledge taking advantage of the information revolution,” said VP Mnangagwa.
“It is, therefore, necessary to invest in research and development designed to meet the challenges of climate change.
“We need to increase our investment into financing our climate change adaptation stratagem.
“By the same token we need to be innovative and creative in our financing options.”
Then there was Amai Dr Mugabe on Friday again at ZAS, making a revelation that she was working on capacitating women farmers producing small grains with machinery and equipment to boost production and enhance value addition.
True to form, the First Lady urged beneficiaries of the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme to fully utilise the land they were allocated and called for a land audit to weed out idle farmers.
“A lot of land is lying idle as some people are not doing what they should be doing,” she said.
“People are not doing what is expected of them.
“We have some people who still need land.
“Government should continue to carry out a land audit to enable genuine farmers to have land and produce to feed the nation.”
There is unanimous agreement in the country that some beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme have not done enough to justify their continued stay on the land.
This is where Amai Dr Mugabe, herself a farmer of repute, has had to come in.
Indeed she has led from the front in pursuing maximum productivity on land through her recent taking over of the supervision of the Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme in Binga.
The project had been lying idle since 2004.
The First Lady, who recently announced that she would ensure that the multi-million dollar project is operationalised this year, visited the area to meet the traditional and local leadership and be briefed about the project.
The irrigation project will cover
15 000 hectares of land, with 250 hectares earmarked for the first phase at a cost of about US$1,8 million.
Prior to Amai Dr Mugabe and VP Mnangagwa’s diagnosis, there had hardly been new ways to rally the people of Zimbabwe and rekindle the indomitable spirit of hard work that has been the hallmark of this great nation.
For South Africa’s Malema, it may have only been an-hour cameo at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Soshanguve campus, but his statements were a formidable sight that suggests he will be capable of lifting his country to previous unattained levels. 
“They say to you you’re going to be like Zimbabwe if you take your land,” he said.
“You’re worse than Zimbabwe because you stay in shacks on a land that you do not even own.
“You’re poor without anything.
“Zimbabweans are poor, but they’ve got land.
“They’ve got property.
“You’re poor (and) don’t have any property, but you think you’re better than Zimbabwe.
“Why?
“You listen to propaganda.
“They always want to make you feel good.
“When you complete varsity you’ll stay in Midrand, where you’re going to rent a flat.
“That’s what you’re graduating into.
“You graduate into debt.
“You graduate into being a slave of banks.
“Qualified civil engineers from here can’t afford even the smallest car because we must graduate into slavery and continue being controlled by white people.
“It starts here.
“Let’s liberate the whole of South Africa.”
If it were a song it would have gone thus:
“When there was that virgin soil, there was Amai Dr.
“When there was that innocent land there was VP Mnangagwa.
“When there was that beautiful land of Zimbabwe, there was Julius Malema, spiritedly hailing that man Robert Mugabe for giving meaning and purpose to the people of Africa.”
That virgin, innocent and beautiful land needed tilling; there was Amai Dr and VP Mnangagwa singing a song of more and plenty.
With people like Amai Dr Mugabe and VP Mnangagwa following President Mugabe’s cue on maximum production on land and mitigating the rampant effects of drought, and on the other side of Limpopo, Malema endorsing our programmes, the future can only be bright.
It is such actions and deeds by these people that can only mobilise the hardly visible national consensus on matters to do with rebuilding our economy.
This is the reawakening of the sleeping giant called Zimbabwe.
Let those with ears listen.